First Year Of Marriage
by what-if-joana
Summary: After two engagements, living together for years, nine years of being in a relationship, eleven in total, after two breakups, and two decades of knowing each other they were finally married. Husband and wife. / Follow Lorelai and Luke through their married life. There will be banter, family gatherings, everyday talks, and lots of love. A fluffy Post-Revival story.
1. First Day

_Hey everyone (:_

 _It's Lorelai and Luke's first wedding anniversary, so that's the perfect reason for a new story. Before you start reading, I have to point out the following: This story is not all mine. I have written all of it, but all ideas get discussed with mrsgilmoredanes (from tumblr), who I also run javajunkiedaily with. We also asked our followers to prompt us with ideas, so this story is basically a big collaboration. Our goal is to create a fluffy post-revival story for our beloved couple. I hope you don't mind and enjoy it._

* * *

 **First Day**

They did it. After two engagements, living together for years, nine years of being in a relationship, eleven in total, after two breakups and two decades of knowing each other, they were finally married. Husband and wife. Lawfully wedded to each other, and that twice within twelve hours. Two weddings were better than one.

Even though the party had been a smashing hit, Lorelai was relieved to be home with her husband. The past two days had been exhausting, asking her to give everything she had. One coffee was consumed after the other. It was the only way to make her stand upright.

Now, she was happy to finally sit back and do nothing. No more smiling for the camera, no more standing straight in the million different dresses Miss Celine and she had designed. No more duty stuff, just fun stuff.

The wedding had been fun though. Everybody had been there; Sookie had been the biggest surprise of them all. The cakes she had made were delicious; there were still leftovers, which Lorelai had brought along for the little honeymoon Luke and she would have tomorrow at their house. With all the party planning in the last couple of days, there had been no time to plan an actual honeymoon. A quiet day without any interruption was all they could afford at the moment. Plans for a proper honeymoon would need to be revisited at a later time.

All of her planning abilities went into making the wedding happen. Kirk had been a huge help. It was a wonderful day, maybe the best of her life. It was filled with all those memorable moments, which she wanted to capture forever.

There were so many things she would never forget about this day. So many moments, one highlight was chasing the other. It was one big blur and went by too quickly.

The moment Rory teared up when she saw Lorelai in her wedding dress for the first time. Both of them overcame the significance of the moment. This was it. The end of the Gilmore Girls, even though Lorelai would keep her name.

Emily gasped too when she saw her daughter and she couldn't fight the proud smile when she walked her down the aisle instead of her father. Richard's absence brought tears to all of the three Gilmore Girls' eyes, especially since at this wedding, there would not be a father-daughter-dance. A moment of this wedding that could not be cherished forever.

It was in contrast with the moment Luke was officially announced her husband the second time in front of all her friends and family, making it real, making it official. She was married and she could not be happier than this. It was the ultimate moment.

Before she knew it, they gathered together for a big family picture with both of their sides of the family, realizing how big the family was now. She could call Liz her sister-in-law officially and she also had the official permission to get annoyed by her calls just like Luke.

They also did a quick photo shooting with just their daughters, both of them grown-up but still their little girls. Finally, Luke could call Rory his, not just by a feeling he had, but officially. And Lorelai was happy she could do the same with April, the little girl she had seen growing into the amazing young woman she was.

In that moment, the four of them became the family they had been for such a long time, whenever they spent a dinner together. It was one of the many important and emotional moments of that day.

Like the moment Luke's eyes widened whenever he saw her in a new wedding dress, telling her she looked beautiful every single time. And it every time her heart flattered, her knees going weak and every time Luke brought his hands to her to catch her, steady her, give her the support she needed.

The moment one of the many wedding cakes was cut and as the tradition asked her to she decided to smash some of it in Luke's face. His eyes widened this time in horror, so changed her mind. Instead, she fed him the traditional way, with a fork, so she wouldn't stain the suit he was wearing. It suited him so well, making him look like extra hot.

Or the moment they were asked to share their first dance as husband and wife, swaying to the music, both a little spazzy, but she didn't care what the others thought of their dancing. She had only eyes for him. The squeal coming from Liz when she recognized the song they were playing was impossible to miss though. It made them both laugh. Their song to their first dance was the same at Liz and TJ's. Their wedding would always link them together.

The moments passed by and soon they were at home again. It was such long day, filled with so many events. It was no surprise she was exhausted once she was settled back home, on the bed she so often had shared with Luke. The excitement of the day, the adrenaline in her blood, the happiness in general, and the liters and liters of coffee made her go through the day just fine. She couldn't fight the feeling though that a lot of pressure was off now since there was a ring sitting on her finger.

Luke was refreshing himself in the bathroom as she waited for him on the bed. The day was hard on both of them, while Lorelai was capable of dealing with little sleep, Luke was not used to staying up late like they had done the night before with their impromptu elopement. Though she could see the tiredness in his eyes when he came out of the bathroom, the jacket and the tie discarded, the first buttons of his shirt unbuttoned, there was also a smile playing on his lips. He sighed when he sat down. He felt the weight falling off his shoulders as well. "Finally," he said, closing his eyes, bringing his feet up on the bed, stretching out.

"It was a long time coming," Lorelai said, and looked at him in his peace, his hands were folded over his stomach; the ring catching her attention. She couldn't help herself and laced her fingers through his. She settled herself down on her side, watching the man she now was able to call her husband.

"Luke," she whispered at one point.

"Yeah?" He answered, his voice a little hoarse, almost like he was in slumber.

"We didn't leave our wedding reception early, so we can sleep. Or did we?" She brought her hand up to his chest, smoothing over it.

"Five minutes."

In response, Lorelai chuckled. "How about we recharge for a moment before we dive into the physical part of the evening?"

"Napping sounds like heaven."

"Just a moment. I need to take the gown off."

"Yeah-yeah," he said, which was a sign to Lorelai that Luke was more in dreamland than in reality. He didn't jump to his feet to help her out the wedding gown like it was custom. They never did things the traditional way, Lorelai mused, even though only yesterday she learned about his traditional sides.

She took the dress off, leaving her only in her underdress. She rolled the sheets back, and sneaked under them, at the same time, putting them over Luke as well. Once settled, she snuggled up to his side; her head came to rest on his shoulder. She hooked her left leg over his hip and was happy to notice he had gotten rid of the belt. With him there, his scent filling her nose, she felt safe and cozy. At home. Finally.

Lorelai placed a kiss to his neck, the stubble was already showing, but she had grown to like that look on him. It made him all manly. The lumberjack look suited him well. Not that he would call his way of dressing a style, but the flannel shirts had gained a lot of popularity over the years. So much that the plaid had spread over to Lorelai's half of the wardrobe too.

With Luke by her side, she too fell in a slumber, an overdue sleep she had been holding back in the last weeks of preparations. Only with him, she felt this safe. It was so easy to let go with him by her side. The knowledge that he would never ever go anywhere because they were truly committed to each other helped and scared away any inconvenient thought she had to face in the future. Once Rory made up her mind, but she tried to push that away, trying not to leave a sour taste to the rest of the day.

It was a magical day, yet it was not a miracle that she fell asleep, cozy in the bed, surrounded by blankets and the best warm water bottle a human could ask for.

It wasn't a deep slumber she fell into; her mind was preoccupied with processing what has happened in such a short time span. Snippets of the day came to her mind, making her happy, washing a wave of content over her, and making it so easy to relax every single muscle in her body. Life couldn't be any better.

And then life proved her wrong when Luke moved, so he could embrace her in his arms, folded them around her, enfolding her in a way. Being close to him was enough for her. It added to her content, being married, being with her husband in the same bed, being in his arms. There was nowhere she needed to be, only here with him, in the moment, enjoying it as well as she could. She pressed another kiss to his jaw, which made Luke sigh; maybe it was even a moan.

Next thing she knew was that he placed a kiss on her forehead, which brought a smile to her lips but those escaped also a sigh, maybe even a moan too. She couldn't see the difference anymore when Luke buried his hand in her hair, which prompted her to kiss the sensitive skin behind his ear, bringing her hand from his chest to his jaw, caressing it, pampering his jaw with kisses until she met his lips with hers.

Kisses were exchanged, most of them gentle, lovingly, at some point even lazily. There was no rush. They were still sort of in a slumber, in a mode to regain energy so they could consummate their marriage.

Eventually, the kisses grew deeper. The short pecks were replaced with real kisses, lip on lip, mouth on mouth, tongues caressing each other, drawing the other in further. The loving kisses turned into real making out, with hands roaming over the body. They started with the heads: hair and face. They moved over the neck to the shoulders, down the arms, so they could intertwine their hands for a moment, only to let go of them moments later, so they could take on their exploration on the chest, the waist, the back. Whatever they could reach, depending on who was lying on the back at the time.

The making out was intense, not too dirty though. It was not about rough and wild sex. It was about them, showering each other in love, showing the other how much they meant to each other. It was giving and taking, slowly, with everything they had inside them. It was slow, but it was passionate, and even though they had been together for so long, they were still passionate about each other. They were still turning each other on; they had had enough time to get to know what would the other enjoy most. And that was what made it so good. There was nothing better than enjoying each other's presence and having the one person close, who they had grown to love over so many years, and who they were finally allowed to call theirs.

Their lovemaking felt different this time around. It was more intimate if that was even possible. For the first time, they felt like one, truly one, connected on all levels, with no doubts around the corner. Being married felt right, not that it changed much. She felt complete. It was the beginning of something new.

They fell asleep afterward, this time falling into a deep sleep, one that was clearly overdue and they had not sleep that well in weeks, in months really, maybe even in years.

The morning came, however, even through the thick curtains the light made its way to the room, turning everything in a nice glow, to which waking up was not so bad, especially when the person you loved was still very much within reach and up to exchange some tenderness. Speaking was overrated at that time, eating long forgotten.

Their stomachs had to raise their own voices to get attention and with reluctance, they left the safe harbor of their bed. Their avulsion of leaving the bed proofed to be incorrect, the gentle touches and kisses were still exchanged even though their atmosphere had changed. Preparing food was intimate, especially when it was the first time as husband and wife. It helped that they were only wearing their underwear and each a flannel shirt. It was not quite enough; the cold was already creeping into the house. They sought each other's warmth even more.

While Luke was good with his breakfast or brunch really, Lorelai insisted upon eating one of the many leftover cakes. She took out the part of the cake, which had Luke's name on it. She chuckled when she dug her fork into it. "I'm gonna eat Luke. All of it."

It made Luke smile too, out of a totally different reason that came apparent to Lorelai just seconds later, gasping, "Dirty!"

Lorelai's attempts to make Luke eat himself all failed. He hushed her to eat up, so they could sneak back to bed. The mischievous look on his face, made Lorelai forget about the cake. She was attracted to cake and pie, but on the attraction scale, Luke trumped cake and pie, especially when he looked at her like that.

She could never get enough of him. Not today. Not ever. She would never get bored of him, she was certain.

"Hey, Luke?" She asked, getting his attention afterward, again lying in bed, and caressing each other's skin like they had done so long these past hours.

"Yeah?" He said; his voice muffled against her hair.

"I was wondering," she said. "Do you still have the horoscope I gave to you?"

Luke didn't answer, but let go of her and got off the bed. She moaned in protest, but she stopped when she saw he was reaching for his wallet on the dresser. She watched him go through the pockets and then finally he fished a piece of paper out of it. He smiled at the sight and Lorelai figured he must have been reliving the moment. While he could remember every detail about their first meeting, she had little to no memory.

With two big strides, Luke was sitting on the bed again and handing Lorelai the horoscope. She was holding it again. With her thumb, she was tracing her handwriting, trying to relive the moment, both the first meeting and the first date. Just like on her first date the sight of the horoscope made her speechless. It revealed Luke's soft side, which he so often tried to hide, but she liked that side best.

She could feel how Luke wrapped an arm around her. She looked up to meet his gaze. He too looked at the piece of paper, which brought them here. They were meant to be here. This paper was a proof of their love.

It took Lorelai a few moments to get rid of that lump forming in her throat, but she managed to ask, "And did it bring you luck?"

"You have no idea," he answered. Before he leaned closer to kiss her, he snatched the piece of paper out of her hands to make sure it would not get damaged in their exchanging of some tenderness and sharing of love on their wedding night. Lorelai couldn't agree more. This piece of paper was a part of history and needed to be displayed somewhere. This though was part of a different kind of conversation.

"We've been married for 24 hours," Lorelai said at one point. Luke only answered with a smile. There was nothing to add to that. The first 24 hours were perfect and she couldn't wait for their years together as a married couple to follow. She was more than ready for their married life to start.

* * *

 _So, that was it for now. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all very soon. I can't make any promises at the moment. In the meantime, let me know what you think and enjoy the rest of your Sunday! xxx_


	2. Family

_Thank you for all of your support for this story. It is very much appreciated. I'm glad I can present you another chapter this soon. It's a year since the revival today, so it is an ideal opportunity to continue with the story since it picks up right after the revival and gives a glimpse on how the events could contine after it. I hope you enjoy it._

* * *

 **Family**

 _1st month: 5 November 2016 – 5 December 2016_

Their short honeymoon was over, but not the honeymoon phase. Lorelai did her best to prolong it as long as she could. She tried to act spontaneously, more than usual and left the inn once or twice during the day so she could come to the diner. To get coffee of course, but she also needed some private time with her husband. She came to the diner and claimed they needed to facetime one of their daughters.

That was why Luke was stunned when her lips were on his as soon they were behind the curtains. Despite the cold temperatures outside, their kissing got heated really quickly. They managed to take it to Luke's old apartment, which was turned into an office again but still held a bed inside for guests or a little stress relief during the week.

Luke certainly enjoyed the physical aspect of the newly wedded bliss, but the smirk Caesar was shooting him once he came back down, Lorelai's hair a little messy and her lipstick faded, he could not take. Caesar was making comments all day long and Luke's mood from just having his wife giving him a good time faded over the rest of the day.

When he got home, he was in a bad mood. His customers giving him a harder time than usual and with the wedding, he had neglected a few things in the last days. He needed to do the bookkeeping and placing some orders. It was later than usual when he came home. Even Lorelai was getting ready for bed then.

"We're married a week, sweet hubby of mine. What do you say that you've gotten a wife like me a week ago today?" She asked, her voice high in a sing-song melody. One could mistake her statement as singing. It would not be the first she was serenading him.

Luke grunted in response, getting ready for bed instead of engaging in that conversation again. While Lorelai liked to act stupid in love like you would see in all those Hollywood romcoms, Luke was not such a big fan of it. Ever so often Lorelai called Luke her hubby. At first, he played along, but at some point, he could not hear it anymore. He made a face whenever Lorelai used an exaggerated form of address with lots and lots of adjectives. She was showering him with her love, but to him, it felt like she was drowning him with it at times.

"What's with your mood, Mr. Danes? Aren't you happy you have been my husband for a week? We are family now. Paul Anka, you, and me. Isn't that wonderful?" She asked and put a hand over heart. Then she approached him, so she could smooth her hands over his arms up to his shoulders.

"Can we stop this nonsense?" He asked. Over the course of the last week she had been telling him how long they had been married and at first, it was fun, but at this point, it was nothing more than annoying to him. In the short span of a week, she had made him fed up with it.

"What nonsense?" She frowned, but kept her hands on him, squeezing his shoulders, prompting him to explain himself.

"Lorelai," he exhaled deeply. "This lovey-dovey phase ain't us. I just wanna go back to normal."

"Normal, huh? And what's that?" She challenged by tilting her head to her left.

"You know. Just-" He searched for words to describe how they used to be before they were married. To gain more time, he fished his wallet out of his pocket and put it with more power than usual on the dresser. "Fewer endearments, I guess," he said at last.

Luke shrugged afterward, but her hands remained on him. She moved her hands down, going in circles over the plaid-covered chest. The feeling of flannel under her fingertips was familiar. "But endearments it's what I do and you complaining about them is what you do."

"It's just a little much lately," he stated, catching her hands on his chest. His eyes darted down to her hands, which couldn't be still around him. Whenever he was within reach, she was seeking out some body contact.

"We are married for a week, Luke, we're supposed to act silly. This is the beginning of our marriage. Life will get hectic soon enough," she explained, turning her hands so she could get a hold of his. "Let me have this. Let me be more affectionate than usual, let me come up with crazy romantic things to do. I want this. Can you give it to me, please?"

"Don't give me the puppy eyes," he said, narrowing his gaze at her.

"Is that a yes?" she asked, now pouting at him while there was also a smile playing on her lips. She knew his way to get what she wanted with him.

Instead of answering her, he asked a question, "What crazy romantic things?"

"I was thinking about the horoscope you keep in your wallet." She bit her lip after she had said those words. Her eyes darted to the wallet, which he had placed on the dresser just moments before.

"What about it?"

"I think it's time to frame it," she said softly, clearly aware that it was a picky topic, especially when she noticed how his heart started to beat faster in his chest. He loosened his grip on her hands.

"No."

"Hear me out!" She argued, pressing her hands to his chest. All she needed him to do was listen to the reasons she had played out in her head ever since he had shown her the horoscope after their wedding.

Luke didn't answer. There was neither a nod nor a shake of the head. There was no indication of disagreement, so she started to explain herself, "I want to display it in the diner or somewhere in the house. This piece of paper has done its job and I want the world to see it. I think that horoscope deserves that kind of treatment. It had suffered long enough in your wallet with all the receipts in there. The horoscope needs a special place, after all these years."

"No," he simply said, shaking his head. Lorelai had expected him to say the horoscope was staying exactly where it was at the moment. She had expected him to say it was safe in his wallet. She had expected him to argue that it had been safe for two decades and he would never frame or hang it somewhere else.

But nothing of that came, so she had to ask back, "Why not?"

"Because." Again, there was no more to Luke's arguing. Instead, he turned around to move to the next step of his nightly routine, which was changing into his sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"That's not an answer," Lorelai argued, following him to the other side of the room where he pulled his pajamas out of a drawer. He always stored them there.

"I said so, and that's the end of this discussion," Luke grunted, walking to the bathroom with the pants and t-shirt in his hands.

"Is it because you think the luck will fade away once it's out of your wallet?" Lorelai asked, thinking of reasons why he denied that idea so much without any good reasoning.

"What?" Luke asked, looking at her for a moment. He looked flustered, but then he frowned as he said, "That's crazy. I don't believe in that kind of stuff."

Luke's face gave him away. She caught him in his lie; she had exposed his true feelings. "You clearly do," she stated, pointing a hand up and down at him.

"I don't," Luke hissed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Alright, you don't," Lorelai said, adding air quotes with her hands. It was so plain obvious he was lying. It was cute how he believed in superstition and she liked that side of him. There was no need to push him for more, so instead, she smiled at him, tilting her head to the side. It usually wore Luke down when she looked at him like that.

It worked again this time, he suggested, "Let's make a deal like real married people."

"A marital compromise?" She rephrased.

"Yeah, one of those," Luke said, unfolding his arms and putting the clothes in the bathroom. "I'll engage in that lovey-dovey phase a little more if you let go of that horoscope idea and go lighter on me."

"I can call you hubby?" She could not believe what he was giving his permission to an official married pet name.

"Yes," he confirmed, but she could pick the reluctance in his tone. He was not entirely happy with this compromise and making him groan with her endearments was half the fun anyway.

"You will call me wifey?" She asked to see how far he was willing to go.

He didn't need to answer; the clenching of his jaw was answer enough. Her asking was a stretch and she would let get of it - for both of their sakes. "Alright, doll," she chuckled in response, hoping it would soothe his nerves. She flashed him a smile, giving her agreement to their first marital compromise.

His tense shoulders relaxed immediately, and he said with a jerk of his head towards the bathroom, "Let me change real quick and I'll show how you what a great husband I can be."

"Are you sure you need clothes for that?" She challenged him, raising an eyebrow. Marital compromises needed to be sealed in a very special way and clothes interfered with that.

"Then it's just brushing my teeth," he muttered, but a smirk was playing on his lips. Their newly wedded bliss was back on and Lorelai liked every bit of it. Their wedding was only a week ago and she wanted to prolong the fun as long as she could.

Even with the wedding over, it filled their conversations plenty. She talked about it non-stop when she was with him, especially when she was helping Luke closing the diner after a long day. She usually helped him on the weeknights he was bound to close the diner. Her reasons were entirely selfish. The quicker he was finished with work, the earlier he was home and could start cooking whatever he felt like. She was dependent on his cooking skills, especially since the dishes he quickly whipped up tasted better like most of the junk food she used to worship. He made her addicted to his cooking.

"I can't wait to see the photos Kirk took!" Lorelai gushed, refilling the saltshakers. "I want to change my phone's wallpaper to one of the wedding pics."

"Why?" Luke frowned, wiping the tables. They had split the tasks a long time ago, so a routine had the time to be established. While he cleaned the tables she refilled the saltshakers and the ketchup bottles.

Lorelai clicked her tongue in disapproval. The reason for the pictures was so plainly obvious. "To look at my pretty husband, silly."

Luke moved to the next table, and said, "But I'm right here."

"Right now, you are, but the rest of the day not so much," Lorelai argued back. They did not see each other as much as she would have liked in their newly wedded bliss.

"You can't remember how I look during the day?" Luke turned around to look at her, stretching his arms wide from him.

"I do, but it's nice not to entirely rely on the mental image," Lorelai pointed out, looking up and down his body, checking the flannel he decided to wear tonight. She liked when he went with mainly red shirts. They suited him best, in her opinion.

"Yeah, mental. That's the right word," Luke said. Even though he turned around quickly, Lorelai was able to catch the smirk on his face.

"Hey!" She grabbed a kitchen towel and tried hitting it his back, but she misaimed and it dropped on the floor next to him.

Luke lifted the towel, and threw the towel right back at her, right into her face. After all, he had played some baseball in his teen years. "Best you could do?" He asked.

"That's how you treat your oh-so-lovely wife, who is so kind to help you out?" Lorelai threw the towel on the counter; in what she thought was a dramatic way, her arms high in the air.

Before Luke could respond, someone stormed into the dinner and interrupted them. The sign was turned to "closed", but that didn't stop the invader. Usually, only Lorelai would come in with the sign out; all the others had learned their hard lesson to barge in like that.

"I have news," Kirk announced, he sounded out of breath. He must have run here.

"Kirk!" Lorelai exclaimed, both in in surprise and in worry. She came around the counter to come to stand next to Luke, who still looked somehow startled at Kirk. "We were just talking about you. Do you have the photos of our wedding ready yet?"

"Some little touch-ups here and there, but you will have them by the end of the week," Kirk promised.

"Thanks." Lorelai smiled, glancing at Luke, her mind set to prove him wrong about the phone's wallpaper.

"But this is not why I came here. I have news," he said, dropping on a nearby chair. "Big news," he added.

"Oh, is it sitting down news?" Lorelai asked, getting closer to him.

"I think, yes." Kirk frowned, putting his forehead in his hand, pausing for a moment. "Sit," he said and with his other hand, he gestured to the seats opposite of him.

Lorelai exchanged a look with Luke, not sure what this was all about. They sat down nevertheless, while Lorelai was concerned about Kirk's wellbeing, leaning forward to smooth over this arm, Luke laid back, his arms crossed in front of him. "What is it, Kirk?" Lorelai asked.

With a deep sigh, Kirk straightened up and he didn't look as stressed anymore, he said, "It's nothing bad. It's the opposite. It's great news, and you're the first people I want to share this with."

"What about your mother?" Lorelai interjected. If the news Kirk was about to share really was as important as he said, he should tell his mother first.

"Oh, she was there when it happened. Obviously, how can she not? It would be rude to exclude, don't you think?" Kirk asked.

"Depends on the event," Lorelai argued. She could name at least 20 events she didn't want her mother to be present. But who was she to judge?

"You know I've gained some experience in event planning recently. In wedding planning, to be precise," Kirk said, referencing obviously their wedding just ten days ago. He sounded like a businessman how he talked about it though.

"We know, Kirk, we've been there," Luke groaned.

"Of course, you have. It was pretty much the event of all events that this town has ever seen. And that was all my doing."

Lorelai sensed how Luke was getting tense beside her, so she placed a hand on his knee, smoothing up and down to make him relax. Before Luke could say anything, Lorelai offered, "We still talk about how lovely it was," she offered.

"Thanks," Kirk said. "And I thought it would be time to re-do it. Top it even. Learn from my many mistakes. You know?"

Kirk looked at them expectantly, but Lorelai didn't react, she blinked a few times and hoped he would just go on. She would never say a single bad word about her wedding, even though the meat might have been a little dry. Nothing a good sauce couldn't fix, but that was the only weak point. And only because her two main enablers were preoccupied with either making the cakes or marrying her in the first place, so they had to go with her third choice.

"Anyway, I thought this through and decided I want to do this again. Bigger. More time to plan; to actually make it a hundred percent right. So, I decided I will get married."

"Kirk! You asked Lulu to marry you?" Lorelai gasped.

"10 minutes ago," he confirmed with a head nod.

"Why are you here then? Shouldn't you be celebrating with her?" Lorelai asked. When she and Luke engaged they didn't want to talk to people right away. There were other things she was interested in.

"She's calling her parents. My mother was there, so there was no use in telling her again, and it's past her bedtime. So I thought why not tell you guys then? I didn't want to invade Lulu's privacy while she spoke to her parents, so here I am."

"As soon as you are married there's no such thing as privacy anymore. You will learn that soon enough," Luke said, waving a hand in front of him.

"Well, thank you," Lorelai said directed to Luke. She was tempted to bump her elbow in his side, but instead, she got off the seat and swept Kirk up in an embrace. "Congratulations. I'm very happy for you and Lulu."

"Thank you," Kirk said and then turned to Luke, who didn't offer his congratulations yet. "Luke?"

Luke looked back between Kirk, who looked at him with expectation, his eyes big, his shoulders down, and Lorelai, who tilted her head in Kirk' direction, encouraging him to say something nice. First, Luke sighed, but then he gave in, opening his arms and saying, "Come here."

Kirk took big strides around the table to receive Luke's hug. Only half-heartedly, Luke patted Kirk's back, while Kirk was close to tears, his voice was definitely shaky when he announced, "This is all because of you. You two are always my inspiration."

"Oh, Kirk," Lorelai sighed, bringing a hand to her heart and then making her way up to the boys. She was about to join the hug, when Luke pushed Kirk away, giving him one last pat on the shoulder. "Good work, boy," Luke said.

The rest of the evening was spent with talks about the wedding; mostly Lorelai spoke with Kirk interjecting. Luke was so often dragged in to give his opinion, but he was set to close up the diner. The other two weren't much of a help anymore, not that he minded the chatter much, better than the radio he sometimes turned on.

"Can you believe Kirk's getting married?" Lorelai asked when they were making their way home. "And considering taking Lulu's last name? We have to talk that poor boy out of it. Kirk Kuschner? The initials would be dreadful."

"Never would have pegged Kirk for the modern type," Luke said and it stroke a nerve with Lorelai. She had never pegged Luke for the traditional type, but he had revealed to be like this just hours before the wedding.

"Have I thanked you for being so understanding, hon? For letting me keep my name?" Lorelai said, suddenly a wave of bad conscience hitting her. The wedding was so rushed that they never got to talk about it properly. She just did what she thought was right. She never thought a name could be a big issue. The last years felt like being married anyway and in these years, they didn't share a last name either.

"You're a Gilmore through and through." Luke put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close as they walked to their house. On the mailbox, there was still only "Gilmore" painted, but the mailman knew the city and its inhabitants all very well, no need to change that.

"You are sure it doesn't bother you?" Lorelai checked, bringing his arm around his waist, falling in the same step as him. She had to be sure they were also on the same page.

"Lorelai Danes sounds like a stranger," Luke chuckled, and she agreed. Even though, she had learned Luke was a traditionalist. More than he led on. She would push this subject another time, too content that they were having a good time and still enjoying the newly wedded bliss.

The bliss though was bound to come to an interruption when Thanksgiving came around the corner. A big family gathering would take place at their house, which required some adjustments. The kitchen table was too small for the number of people, which would show up. Besides, Luke needed the space in the kitchen. So, they set up a table in the living room, rearranging the furniture. While Lorelai took care of decoration and setting up the table, Luke was busy with preparations in the kitchen.

He could get away for a little while when the first guests arrived. Ever since out of the vegetable cult, Liz and TJ were over-punctual. Before the cult, they would be late, always late, very late, now it was like they had overcorrected.

"I'm so happy you're finally married. It was about time. I always knew you would end up together. Didn't I?" Liz said after the first greetings were exchanged and their jackets were hung in the foyer.

"You did, babe," TJ backed her up.

"I knew. Always, even when you were broken up. You two are meant for one another. I mean, how can you not? You had your first date when I married my soul mate." She gestured to TJ. "It was destiny."

"There's no destiny," Luke interjected.

"There is, big brother. There's a greater power watching over us and guiding us through life. They push us to the good people, the ones we're supposed to end up with," Liz explained, while Luke directed her to the living room, TJ close behind.

Lorelai followed with Doula in tow, engaging in some aunty-niece-bonding time, which was cut short when Doula spotted Paul Anka wearing a turkey hat. Within a matter of seconds, Doula was gushing over it and patting Paul Anka, who wouldn't move a bit, enjoying the love he was showered in by a little girl's hands. Those he liked best. In old age, he grew easy and more relaxed.

Lorelai joined the adults and Liz was still talking about destiny and soulmates. "I could have met TJ way earlier if I had kept my eyes open, but fate made sure we were at the same place at the same time again."

"You were at the same place at the same time before?" Lorelai asked, hoping there would be a funny story behind all of this.

"Oh yes, we are the same concert of this one band, but he was late, so he was in the very back while I was there early and was front row, being a groupie naturally. But we discovered we were supposed to meet our friends at the same time in front of the concert hall. We could have seen each other, but we didn't. Let me tell you though, I felt a very strong energy at that concert. It was the best I've ever been. And that was because TJ was there," Liz explained.

"I felt it too," TJ said, raising his hands. "I mean not the energy, but something about that night was off. I didn't feel like picking up any girl. Not even talked to one because deep down I knew my girl was right there, so why waste the time with the others."

"See, there's something like a greater power," Liz said to Luke, bumping her shoulder against his. "Where you at the same place at the same time before you met?"

"You don't have to answer that," Luke told Lorelai.

"Actually, we talked about this," Lorelai said, a smile on her face. She liked when she could embarrass Luke, even though it was so easy.

"Jeez," Luke sighed.

"You did?" Liz's eyes lit up.

"Apparently, we had both been to Harvey's Beach in our youth," Lorelai told her. "You remember the beach?"

"I do. I have some very fond memories of it." Liz's voice changed dramatically, almost flirty, almost to the voice of a little high school girl, who was talking about her high school crush.

"The cute boy at the snack stand?" Lorelai used a similar voice.

"Who looked like Emilio Estevez?" Liz shot back.

"Yes," Lorelai exclaimed and then added in a softer tone to Luke, "See? I told you he was cute."

"That hair," Liz raved.

"And those eyes," Lorelai chimed in.

"His lips were very soft," Liz said and touching her lips in awe.

"What?" Lorelai frowned. She had no idea how Liz could know his lips were soft, unless she had kissed him.

"We used to make out after his shift," Liz revealed, a little shy now. So, Emilio Estevez was one of Liz's high school crushes after all.

"You did?" Lorelai gasped.

"Yeah." Liz blushed, rolling her eyes.

"Oh. That explains why he didn't pay any attention to me and my friend doing cartwheels."

"That was you? Doing cartwheels for hours and hours?" Liz rotated her hand in a circular motion, adding to her words.

"You saw me?" Lorelai's eyes widened.

"Well, I remember making a remark about how you must be feeling sick after doing cartwheels for hours."

"We were feeling sick, but it was for a good cause. To attract Emilio Estevez, but apparently, he was taken." Lorelai pouted.

"Yeah, he had a girlfriend." Liz sighed.

"And you made out with him nevertheless?"

Liz shrugged to Lorelai's question, but TJ interjected, "Not cool, babe."

While TJ lectured his wife about it, Lorelai turned to Luke, saying "I can't believe we were there at the same place at the same time, and I didn't notice you, my pretty husband."

"Told you we could have been there at the same time," Luke said.

Lorelai looked at him completely flustered and surprised with all these revelations today. "This is weird."

"Weird is your thing," Luke reminded her.

"I notice you now, every day of the week. I only have eyes for you." Lorelai flashed him a wide smile, and if his sister and brother-in-law weren't present she was sure a statement like this would grant her one the kisses she liked so much. But Luke was not a big fan of PDA and she respected that.

"Good to know, but don't mind. How old were you back then? Probably a little too young for me?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes. "Age doesn't matter."

"It does when you're 18."

Lorelai reached for Luke's shoulder, smoothing over it. That was as much PDA Luke could take. Instead of replying, she engaged in a conversation with Liz and TJ, who had settled their argument as well.

As they talked, she couldn't help gazing at Luke, imagining how different her life would have turned out when she would have fallen for him all these years ago at Harvey's beach. There would have never been Rory in her life. And while spending more time with her soulmate as Liz looked to put it, she would not change a thing even if she could. She met him after all, later, but still soon enough.

She would not want to miss the Thanksgiving they were experiencing. Their daughters were there, even Jess checked in at some point. Emily refused to come all the way from Nantucket twice in a month, that was why she stayed there with Berta's family. Then there were Liz, TJ, and Doula, who avoided every vegetable possible; they were still fresh out of the vegetable cult and decided to not eat any for the rest of the year.

"The things we've seen them doing there with carrots and Brussels sprouts, I tell you, guys, I am branded for life," TJ said, digging into the meat of the turkey with delight while shoveling more of the filling onto his plate with his other hand. He had definitely forgotten his manners while being in the cult.

When they managed to persuade Doula to let go of Paul Anka, TJ and Liz left in the afternoon. They also convinced Jess to tag along for some time with his family. It granted Lorelai and Luke some alone time with their daughters. While Luke took care of some cleaning up in the kitchen, Lorelai entertained the girls sitting around the kitchen table, so Luke could be close to them.

"Girls, the wedding pictures are finally here," Lorelai said, sitting next to April and Rory, who had been exchanging over something.

"It took Kirk long enough," Rory noted, reaching for the album Lorelai had brought along.

"I know," Lorelai sighed.

"Woah, I never thought Kirk was capable of doing that. This looks good. I couldn't have made it better," April said, smoothing over the paper, looking at how symmetrical the pictures were arranged.

"Right? Kirk is full of surprises." Lorelai said and turned over the page.

"You're looking at them again?" Luke groaned.

"Again?" April asked.

"She looks at them every night. I think I have memorized all of the pictures by now. Especially the one where you three laugh so hard, while I'm just standing there not getting anything." Luke said, reaching over Lorelai's shoulder to skim through a few pages. "Look!"

"This one's actually very nice," Rory pointed out.

"We're certainly all photogenic. It must run in the family," April said, which made Lorelai laugh. She thought April did not know she had made a joke, but then she saw a grin on her face, which was just as cheeky as her father's. It astonished her; for the first time, Lorelai actually laughed about one of her jokes.

The moment, however, was over, when Rory asked, "Can you send me a few of the pictures? Do you have them on the computer too?"

"I do," Lorelai said proudly, to which Luke scoffed.

"What?" Rory asked.

"He's annoyed that I can't decide which photo I use as my background picture."

"That's a very important decision, Luke," Rory lectured him.

"That's not what I'm annoyed with."

"What is it then?" April asked.

Lorelai remained silent, looking at a corner of the room. "Oh, now, she's not so forth-coming anymore," Luke scoffed. "I don't like the pictures she uses of me."

"They are not that bad," Lorelai argued back, and in the meantime, Rory reached for Lorelai's phone, which was lying on the table.

"Seriously?" Rory asked, showing the picture to April, who's eyes widened and she also said, "Seriously?"

"Are we suddenly in an early season of Grey's Anatomy?" Lorelai took the phone out of Rory's grasp. "It's a cute picture."

"Of you. Of Luke? Not so much." Rory turned to Luke, telling him, "I'm with you on this."

"But I like the way my dress looks on this. Have you seen the wonderful train of it? Miss Celine did such an amazing job on it. I have to look at it day-in and day-out," Lorelai argued.

As Rory was about to argue back, April suggested, "We can just cut the picture. Cut dad out. That would work."

The three others looked at her, which made April shrugged. "Just saying."

"Or-" Lorelai said, her grin wide, looking at her daughter. "I could use the photo of the two of you dancing like two goofs on the dance floor."

"There's no photo like that." Rory crossed her arms in front of her.

"Actually there is." Luke reached over Lorelai's shoulder again to turn a few more pages, to the back, when just random photos were taken at the wedding reception. There it was, showing April and Rory holding onto their hands, in an awkward pose, the hair already messy from the long day. It was not the most candid photo of them.

"You wouldn't!" Rory urged her, looking at her mother, who reached for her phone again. Lorelai said, "Watch me!"

"Again awkward dancing runs in the family," April said and pointed to a picture of Lorelai being captured in an awkward pose on the dance floor.

"Can't you use that?" Rory asked, a little wailing in her voice. "You can see the train of the dress there too"

"No, I'm sticking to my two favorite daughters."

While the daughters were not pleased with the outcome of this conversation, Luke was more than happy. He was finally not Lorelai's background on her phone anymore and living his peaceful life without having his privacy restrictions broken. Life was good again.

Though for a second it was little sad again when the girls left. Luke wouldn't see April for a while since this year she would be spending Christmas with her mother. April alternated Christmas and Thanksgiving with her parents. When she spent Thanksgiving with Luke and Lorelai, she would spend Christmas with her mother and the other way around. It was the last time the four of them would be together this year.

"We'll facetime," April assured her father and step-mother when she left with Rory, who promised the same. With all the family gone, the house felt big again, yet it was also a relief to have some time to themselves and finish up the cleaning.

November came to an end and as always it didn't end on a light note. The 30th was his dark day. He still had it. It was part of him. And recently it was the only time of the year he thought of his Dad.

However, the day was not as dark as it used to be. After moving in with Lorelai, the whole procedure of the day had changed. Since they were living together, he couldn't avoid seeing her, even if it was just at night. He still closed the diner and spent the day somewhere else. But in the course of the past years, he had included Lorelai into the day. He had let her be part of it, little by little, including her more and more. He had talked to her; he had even shared some fond memories of his father.

His dark day was not as dark anymore since he was not in a dark period of his life anymore. When his father had died, Luke's life had been a mess, but now he had a family of his own. There was his daughter, April, his stepdaughter, Rory, and his wife, Lorelai. These three made him happy. He had a reason in life to smile, even on his dark day.

Luke still had his dark day, but it kept brightening up. His dark day was not as dark as the night anymore, slowly fading into dawn, turning into a light-filled day sometime in the future maybe.

He thought the dark period of the year was over with that, but he was proven wrong. Very wrong. The news Rory had presented right at their wedding was big and life-changing and her decision on how to handle everything was life-changing as well. With everything going on in her life and the great changes the country would go through with the results of the election, Rory was not ready to be a mother, at least, not now.

"How was it?" Luke asked when Lorelai came back from escorting Rory to her abortion. He was meeting her right in the foyer, going there as soon as heard her jeep pull into the driveway.

"Fine."

"How is she?"

"Fine."

"How are you?"

"Fine."

With every question, he asked his voice turned softer and softer, while Lorelai again stayed with the same answer. He wanted real answers, not just the one-worded sentences. He was not used to Lorelai's short answers, usually, she would talk a mile a minute. "Lorelai," he said, hoping she would get the weak demand he was putting in her name.

She sighed, shaking her head, biting her lip. It seemed like she was composing herself, trying to gain control over her feelings. When she answered, her voice nothing above a whisper, Luke was sure she was a wreck inside, "We almost had it all."

"I know." He brought his hands to her shoulders, giving her the support she clearly needed.

"It was not the right time." She shrugged his hand off, crossing her arms in front of her.

"No," Luke said. This time he put a strand of hair behind her ear, so she had to meet his gaze. He wanted her to get what he said next, "It will be eventually."

"I hope so." She said, leaning into his hand, which still lingered on her cheek.

"Lorelai." This time Luke sighed.

"It's her decision," Lorelai said and she stepped up to him, so he could finally gather her in his arms. An embrace was all he could offer. All words in the world would not make her any happier.

They lingered there longer, in the tight embrace. Apparently, Lorelai needed to be enfolded in his arms, shielded from the real world. Luke would grant her all the time she needed. She was not the only one, who was so close to being a grandparent. They were both cheated out of it. Bad timing.

Eventually, Lorelai pushed on his chest, so she could meet his gaze again. To Luke's surprise, there was a smile playing on her face and she herself found the words, which would make her happy. She said, "There's one good thing about this day though. It's our one month wedding anniversary."

The first month had passed by so quickly. It had ups and downs. It made them feel different, yet totally the same. Luke didn't want to change a thing. The good and the bad were both alright as long as he could call Lorelai his wife. That was all that mattered. Dealing with Kirk was okay because of her. Bantering over photos was almost like fun because of her. Thanksgiving with all the family was bearable because of her. His dark day was manageable because of her. Getting through Rory's abortion was possible because of her.

To the state, they had only been married for a month, but to him, they had been married way longer than that.

* * *

 _So, there was a lot of events in that chapter, some newly wedded bliss, Kirk's getting married, we finally saw Liz and TJ again, April was back in town for some family bonding and lastly, Rory will not have the baby. Someone guessed it right after the first chapter, and I was very surprised by that. (How did you do that?)_

 _Still, I have to ask all of you to not dwell on that fact and complain about it. Please! I'm not ready to write Lorelai and Luke as grandparents and Rory is NOT the focus of this story anyway. I think letting her have the baby would have taken away too much attention. That's all I will say about this because Lorelai and Luke and their married life are my priority; Rory will only play a minor role._

 _Anyway, if you have something to share besides the Rory-situation, please do. I'm happy to read your thoughts. (:_

 _One last thing, since future updates will be just as long as this or probably even longer, I won't be able to keep up a weekly update. I am certain though that I will make it in time before Christmas. The holiday chapter is a very special one in my opinion. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. Until then, I wish you a lovely weekend! xxx_


	3. Holidays

_Right in time for the holidays, I have a new chapter for you, which can tide you over the waiting. It's pretty long and I hope you enjoy it. (:_

* * *

 **Holidays**

 _2nd month - 05 December 2016 – 05 January 2017_

Even though Luke had been living with Lorelai for years now, he still had not warmed up to her quirks, which only occurred before and during the holidays. Once Christmas was within reach she went overboard with decoration. There was Christmas decoration all over the place. It was in every corner of the house, inside and outside.

How Lorelai had managed to persuade Luke to hang lights on the outside, was still out of his mind, but she could be very persuasive if she pouted and flipped her hair over her shoulder. He was whipped, but he didn't mind.

However, he minded the number of little figurines standing around in the house. It was blowing his mind. There were more little Santas in the house than living human beings. The living-beings were outnumbered.

"You are aware of that fact that there's supposedly only one Santa on this planet?" Luke asked her at one point as they were in the kitchen.

"Yes," she said, shrugging, not even getting into this anymore. Of course, they had had this conversation over the years, more than once, but she still could put a little more effort in defending herself.

"Well, there are at least sixty in our living room, don't you think that's contradicting that fact?"

"No," she simply replied.

"Oh, come on! This is too much. How come you put up even more Christmas decoration than last year? We're not even home for Christmas," Luke pointed out.

This year, they would spend Christmas with Emily in Nantucket. It was one of her conditions to grant Lorelai the loan she needed for the annex of the inn. Luke was not very keen on spending the holidays with his mother-in-law, but only seeing her a total of three weeks a year was definitely an advantage. So he was willing to go along with that plan.

"It's not more," Lorelai argued back.

"I didn't see that Santa polar bear last year," Luke insisted. He knew most of the decorations because Lorelai had talked him into helping her storing away all of the decorations. He had also offered to help because it meant getting rid of the figurines, finally, having a Santa-free living room again, in which he would not feel outnumbered.

Lorelai bit her lip, taking one second too long for her comeback, which was a sign Luke had caught her in a lie. She knew that and gave in, trying to justify her behavior. "He was cute and sitting at the cash register; I had to buy him."

"And the penguin?" Luke asked. He had not seen that one last year. He must be an addition to her collection of Santas as well.

"Was on sale," she said.

"The dog?"

"Which one?"

"There's more than one dog dressed as Santa in this living room?" Luke frowned. The thought of several dogs dressed like Santas in the living room stressed him out.

"There's Paul Anka, to begin with," Lorelai said, starting to count the dogs on her fingers. "Then there's a poodle, a beagle, and a-"

As Lorelai started to name the breeds of dogs, Luke groaned, bringing a hand to his head. He was getting a headache. The thought of being surrounded by Santa dogs was very unsettling. "Don't name them all! Just tell me the number."

"You're sure you won't get a stroke when I tell you?"

For a moment, Luke remained silent, going back and forth with his decision, but he settled on being in the unknown. "You're right, better not tell me. But no more decorations. These are enough," he said and pointed to the living room.

"There's no such thing as enough Christmas decorations, silly. It's the same with M&Ms, the more the better," Lorelai argued back.

"Oh yes there is such thing as enough Christmas decorations, and you, young lady, have crossed that line a long time ago." Luke gestured with his arms, stretching them apart to lay emphasis on his words. "If I find one more piece of decoration entering this living room, it will have serious consequences."

"Will you ground me?" Lorelai asked; a pout on her lips. To her, it was a game, everything was a game, a tease, and an opportunity to bicker and banter. To him, it was not. He was serious about it.

"Don't test my temper," he warned her.

"You're hot when you're working yourself up in a state," she said, tilting her head, looking him up and down. A smile formed on her lips when she met his gaze again.

"I'm serious, Lorelai," he insisted.

"And you think I do the decoration for fun?" She scoffed. "This is a dead-serious business to me."

"Of course," Luke mocked.

"Yes, but if my handsome husband, who I respect and looks super hot at the moment wants me to stop decorating, I will do it, okay?"

"Yeah?" He checked. He was not sure she was serious about her offer.

"Of course," she said, patting his shoulder and leaving the kitchen for the living room, where all the dogs in Santa attires were sitting on the shelves and staring down at them.

When Lorelai had left, Luke exhaled deeply because he figured by the way Lorelai had answered him she was not as serious about it as he needed her to be. He would need to suck it up and be okay with whatever other Santa animal she would bring along in the stressful weeks before Christmas.

And it got very stressful. Christmas was always stressful that was out of the question, but it reached another level of stress this time around. Especially, since Lorelai had agreed to spend the holidays in Nantucket, they had to meet their other responsibilities before leaving for the holidays.

Usually, they would pop by at Liz's house and also at Lane's because the twins were Luke's godchildren and Lane was also like Lorelai's daughter. Whenever Rory was too busy to come over for the holidays, Lane acted as her substitute daughter.

Luke was not entirely happy that their routine got mixed up due to the deal Lorelai had made in order for her to get the money for the annex. He groaned at one point making dinner.

"Celebrating Christmas a week early is crazy," he stated. "Didn't your mother use to do that? Why did she change that now? We could have met her for Christmas a week early and kept our routine just like it was before."

"Luke, my mother is a widow now, so she threw away all her routines and well-established traditions because they are linked to my father. But he isn't here anymore. The Emily we all grew to love, or maybe never grew to like a bit, died with him. That's why we have to be there for Christmas," Lorelai explained, coming to stand next to him.

Luke was preparing a salad for dinner, cutting cucumbers, which Lorelai tolerated eating since she had learned they were mostly made out of water and not that healthy, and certainly not a superfood. "Still," he argued.

"Hey, don't complain. I agreed we would come a few days early, so we're off the hook for New Year's," she reminded him, widening his eyes at him.

"That's the very least." He presumed to cut the cucumber

"Hey, maybe it won't be as bad. And I certainly like the idea of you not being stuck in the kitchen all day long like on Thanksgiving," she said and went over to the fridge to get a drink.

"I like cooking." He turned around to see her close the door of the fridge again, which yet again was decorated with a big red bow. It had been stuck there since last year and to him, it looked ridiculous. But what Lorelai wanted Lorelai got. She managed to wear him down so often.

"And I like having you around in the living room," she said.

"With either the twins, Doula, Rory or just Paul Anka in the room, I play the second fiddle anyway," Luke scoffed. "I can't blame you. They are cuter."

"Did you just refer to yourself as cute?" Lorelai squealed.

"No, I said, they were cuter," he clarified, rolling his eyes. She picked up on the craziest things.

"Which implies you are cute too, but just not as cute as them," Lorelai stated, grinning widely.

"It's not what I meant," he argued. She turned his words to her liking and he didn't like it a bit.

"I'll offer you a deal," she announced.

"A marital compromise?" He rephrased. They had made one of those before.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I'll take care of shopping for the Christmas presents if you grant me this moment and let me call you cute for the rest of the evening."

"Only if you eat the salad when I add a tomato," he shot back.

"24 hours then," she countered back.

They looked at each other intensely, not breaking eye contact; negotiating with them was never an easy business. Luke clenched his jaw, but eventually agreed, "Deal."

"Oh, my cute Dansey-boy," she cheered, stepping up to him. She framed his face, almost like she was about to pinch his cheek and then pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thanks."

"Go get me the tomatoes," Luke grunted, trying his best not to get annoyed by her endearments.

"Of course, cutie," she said, attempting to wink at him. After all these years she was still an awkward winker. She walked over the other side of the kitchen where the tomatoes were stored in a basket and passed by Paul Anka. She kneeled down to brush a hand over his head and told him in a voice that Luke could hear, "Daddy is so easy to play."

"I'm not the mutt's father," he groaned. They had this discussion every once in awhile.

"So easy to play," Lorelai repeated, ruffling through Paul Anka's fur.

Luke refrained himself to argue back and concentrated on preparing their dinner. It took a lot of his energy to suffer through her nicknames, but it was worth it at the end of it. It was a small price to pay.

By the end of the week, she came back with all the presents, which they needed for the holidays and Luke did not need to set one foot in a mall or on a shopping street with all the other crazy Christmas shoppers. That was the best part of their deal and the 24 hours of being called cute had passed by quicker than expected and were cut short with sleeping and their respective jobs anyway.

"Thank you for getting those presents," he said when she came back home after the day at the mall.

"I know how much you hate shopping, especially with all the other many Christmas shoppers, the Christmas music you can't stand and the masses of decorations all over the place. I saved you from looking for a parking space and the carrying of bags. I picked presents for the people you love, which they will love too, so they won't be stuck with kitty pot holders or monogrammed unicorns."

Luke groaned when he heard that. She would never leave him alone with those presents, bringing that up at every possible occasion.

"I know how much you hate buying gifts. And even though you've been married to me, a.k.a. Mrs. Claus, you still have no clue how to buy gifts," she noted, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Can you just give me my credit card back?" Luke asked before she could go on and on about her strength of buying gifts. He had heard that speech at least once or twice over the years. She was like a broken record, knowing exactly how to push his buttons, how to make him groan, moan, and sigh deeply. She did it on purpose - he was sure of that.

"Your credit card and I are very good friends now, I think the card wants to stay with me. My wallet is a lot cozier than yours," she said.

"Uhuh." He raised an eyebrow and stretched his hand in her direction, clearly asking for his credit card back with that gesture.

Yet, Lorelai didn't pick up on it. She gushed, "Yeah. What do you say? Yes? Just in case I need to buy some more gifts?"

"Hand me the card, Lorelai," he asked her, his tone firm.

"Fine," she gave in, rolling her eyes when she handed him the credit card back. "Party pooper."

"Did you get the one we talked about for Rory and April?" Luke asked. The best way to deal with Lorelai was by ignoring the comments, which were just there to annoy him.

"Yes, old softie. I got the bracelets for our girls. Engraved like you asked, but still petite enough for their tiny wrists." Lorelai touched her own wrist with her hand, putting her fingers on it.

Luke nodded to her answer and watched as she carried the bags upstairs. Once again, Luke knew why he liked being married to Lorelai or being with her in general. She took over tasks he dreaded so much and while she would have enjoyed to drag him along, he was happy that she had offered to go without him.

Things at the diner were a little more stressful than usual because he would be gone for a week and while Caesar was a very good employee, Luke had still troubles to hand things over. Not because he didn't trust him, but because he knew Caesar could go overboard whenever he was alone in the diner and it stressed Luke out in what kind of state he might find his diner after the holidays. He was expecting a few new dishes, which Caesar claimed the people loved.

That was why he was glad Lorelai had taken the burden of going shopping off his shoulders. After a few minutes, Luke decided to make his way upstairs so he could have a look at the presents Lorelai had bought. On the bed, he found the shopping bags of Lorelai's Christmas shopping spree and he peeked into the bags. The bracelets for the girls were exactly like he pictured them, and suited both of them perfectly. In another bag, he found something that did not amuse him. It made him frown.

"Lorelai!" He yelled, picking the item out of the bag, inspecting it carefully, turning it over while his frown deepened. He could not believe what he was seeing at the moment.

"What?" Lorelai asked, stepping out of the bathroom, where she had changed into her home outfit of a pullover that says "Happy" across her bosom and some sweatpants.

"I just found this," Luke said, turning around and stretching his arm in her direction. In his hand, there was a flamingo dressed as Santa. It was such a ridiculous combination and for a moment, Luke had wondered where Lorelai had found this, but it was not important, not the subject of this discussion.

"So?" She said, taking the flamingo out of his hand, admiring it, and smiling at it.

"I said no more decoration," Luke reminded her of the conversation they had had a week ago and the deal they had struck. Their second marital compromise.

"In the living room," she said.

Luke shot her a warning glance. She was twisting his own words, turning them against him. This was not how he intended them.

"What?" Her eyes widened for a second, but then she shrugged it off and added, "You said so. It was not in the living room, was it?"

"Not fair," he warned, taking the flamingo out of her hands again, so he could put it back into the bag. Then he removed the bags from the bed, shaking his head. Lorelai definitely knew how to bend the rules to her liking. When he met her gaze again, he caught her smirking at him. She reached out for his shoulder.

"I've been a naughty girl," she said. "What will you do to me?"

Even though she had defeated him, she definitely knew how to soothe his nerves, taking his thoughts elsewhere and while he could not stand any more Christmas decorations in the house, getting seduced by his wife was definitely worth the one extra figurine.

There was not much extra time until their departure to Nantucket though. They popped over at Lane's and celebrated with Liz and her family. Soon enough they were dropping off Paul Anka at Babette's, who was willing to take him in for the week.

As Luke and Lorelai were on the road going off on their Christmas holiday, Lorelai played with the radio. It was something she did when she was sitting in the passenger seat and Luke had gotten used to it over the years.

At some point, after going back and forth between different radio stations for a couple of times without any luck and a song to strike a chord with her, Lorelai turned the radio off and played music from her phone. She started playing "Highway to Hell", which played for a good 30 seconds before Luke voiced his disagreement.

"No!" He said, his eyes on the road in front of him.

"Why not?" Lorelai asked back.

"I can't listen to that song," Luke simply replied.

"Why not?" Lorelai frowned. "It's the ideal soundtrack for where we're heading to."

"It's not," he argued.

"Think about it. A week with my mother in Nantucket is like hell."

"Change the song." Luke looked at Lorelai and then, he took his right hand off the wheel and tried to reach for the phone.

"No! Keep your hands off of Ginny (her phone) and keep your eyes on the road." Lorelai nudged his hand away.

"It's a totally inappropriate soundtrack. A week with your mother is not hell, at least not the one they sing about," Luke explained as he put his hand back on the wheel in defeat. "Just change the song."

"Only if you admit that is the perfect soundtrack. My mother will never know that you think of that week as hell. So come on, say it!"

Luke just shot her a side glance before he rolled his eyes. He should better not make his mother-in-law angry; she had her spies everywhere, even on the highway to hell.

They arrived sometime in the afternoon and Emily greeted them right at the gateway. Luke had no opportunity to take care of their luggage himself because Berta was already there, talking in a language no one understood. He watched her carry the bags by herself into the house and he followed Berta, Emily, and Lorelai to the house as well.

The house, or the Sandcastle as Emily liked to call it, was not big. With Berta's family staying over for the holidays too, it was a tight fit. Emily managed to make a room available for Lorelai and Luke, and she promised by the summer she would have persuaded the neighbor to sell their house to her.

Emily was in hostess mode, showing off the rooms, giving a small tour and telling them to make them feel at home. At last, she opened the door to the room, in which Lorelai and Luke would stay. The room was little, but it still was able to fit two single beds in it.

Because Emily was such a good hostess, she left her guests alone for a minute to give them time to settle in. She closed the door behind her and as soon as she was gone, Luke hissed, "Does your mom think we'll sleep in separate beds? We're married, she should know better."

"No, she thought we were the Olsen twins and enjoyed sleeping in twin beds. It's what we do anyway. Do you want the one closer to the door or closer to the window? Or do you wanna go crazy and push them together like we usually do?" Lorelai said, a smile playing on her lips. "Don't make that face, honey. I know you can't sleep without me next to you."

"It's-"

Lorelai interrupted him, "Don't try to make excuses. It's fine."

"What will we do when Rory comes in a few days?" Luke asked. Telling from the tour Emily had given them, Luke figured there were not enough rooms or beds for all of them.

"I suppose she and I will just share a bed. No big deal, we have done that before." Lorelai waved it off.

"Lorelai, no."

"Really, you can't sleep when I'm still in the same room but not in the same bed? Interesting. Since when are you so dependent on me? You're worse than Lily who needs a big pillow with her whenever Marshall is gone."

"Who? What?"

"Just help me push the bed," she demanded.

How they would deal with the bed situation would be pushed aside for a few days until Rory arrived. For now, they could push the beds together and sleep in one big bed, so Lorelai would sleep within in reach for Luke.

He slept better with her there, especially in a new environment with the waves making noise all night long. He was up early, he was always up early, but there was no use in waking up Lorelai now. She needed her sleep just like she needed her coffee.

And even though Luke had been with her for such long time, he was still not a fan of coffee. He couldn't drink it and still preferred tea over the dark liquid made out of beans. Thinking of tea made him want a cup and Emily had pointed out they should help themselves to anything in the kitchen. The strict rules only applied to the mansion in Hartford but not to the Sandcastle.

With caution, Luke walked through the house in nothing dressed but a thick pair of socks, a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He was careful not to wake anybody; it was still early in the morning.

When he heard noises coming from the kitchen, he stopped in his step, but then he figured it must be Berta preparing breakfast. He made his way into the kitchen, but who he met there threw him off.

"Oh, sorry, I had no idea someone would be up by now," Luke awkwardly said when he stumbled upon Emily Gilmore in the kitchen of the Sandcastle.

"It's alright," Emily shot him a weak smile, turning around. "Come in. You wanted something to drink, right?" She gestured to the fridge to her left.

"Yes. Some tea," Luke admitted, still not moving away from the doorframe where he suddenly froze when he had spotted Emily Gilmore leaning against the kitchen counter with a glass of orange juice in her hand.

"Oh, yes, there's tea too," Emily said and moved to her right, which revealed the kettle behind her.

"Thanks," Luke said, he walked over to the kettle, and grabbed the handle of it. He stepped over to the sink to fill it up with water.

For a moment, Emily watched how Luke filled the kettle with water from the tap, but then she cleared her throat and said, "Actually, would you mind making me a cup of tea too? The orange juice is a little hard on my stomach."

"No problem," Luke said as he filled more water into the kettle. "I had the same problem with orange juice." Luke offered a smile to his mother-in-law, hoping they could find some common ground. "The sourness doesn't mix well with the stomach. April, my daughter, explained to me why that happened, but I can't remember a thing she said."

Again Emily smiled at him, two thin lines formed into a slight curve. "I know who April is," she said as he started the kettle.

"Oh, yeah, sure. That was just a force of habit," Luke explained.

"Of course."

For now, everything was said and done. All that was left for them to do was to wait until the water boiled in the kettle. He twisted his wedding ring, to give his fingers something to do.

"I don't know how you drink your tea, but wouldn't cups be a good idea?" Emily asked at one point, and while Luke was happy he had something to do other than standing awkwardly in the kitchen with his mother-in-law, he also felt embarrassed how easily Emily could make him forget the simplest things.

"Yes, that's right. Where- I mean. In which cupboard?"

"To your left."

"Thanks," he exhaled and turned around. While his right hand pulled the cupboard open, he brought his left hand to his face, wiping away any sweat drops, which had formed on his forehead. He pulled two cups out, white ones with some flowers on them. "Are these fine?"

"Yes."

"And tea bags?" Luke asked.

"In that jar over there, with the sights of London on it."

Luke took two bags out of the jar and then put them into the cups. He tried to be considerate, not forgetting about the easiness of making a cup of tea, falling into his best diner owner habits. "How do you take your tea? Milk? Sugar? Lemon?" He asked.

"Black, please."

"Just like me." He nodded. To his fortune, the kettle was ready and he could pour water into the cups. The water immediately turned dark when it hit the tea bags in it.

Then, he started to open drawers, in search for a spoon to fish the tea bags out of the cups. He had opened three drawers without success when Emily pointed to a drawer opposite from her. "The spoons are there," she said.

This whole encounter felt like running the gauntlet; there was a pitfall around every corner, a surprise everywhere. The end of this was so close, only a minute until he could pull the tea bags out and then he would be gone back to his room.

Even though he was a morning person, he didn't feel strong enough to face his mother-in-law so bright and early, especially with the sweatpants he was wearing at the moment. She was wearing her dressing gown too and even wore some slippers, but she still looked elegant and fancy, while he in comparison looked like a vagabond.

Finally, the tea seemed dark and therefore strong enough, so Luke could remove the tea bags and he threw them in the trash bin. He handed Emily her cup of tea, who said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Luke said and moved over to the door, so he could finally escape his mother-in-law's grasp.

"Luke, why don't we sit down in the living room and drink our tea there? Lorelai will be grumpy all day when you wake her now. And God knows we don't want her in a bad mood. There's nothing worse than that," she said, making her way to the living room.

He could not refuse her, so he agreed and sat down on a chair in the living room, while Emily was seated on the couch. He wished the tea was not steaming hot anymore, so he could make time pass quicker by actually drinking his tea, but without that option, he was forced to speak. "How did you sleep?" He asked, quickly adding, "I thought the waves would keep me up, but it was actually quite alright. Still a little unfamiliar, but I'm sure it will be better in a few days."

Again there was a polite smile on Emily's lips, the thin one, which she only flashed when she was getting impatient and uneasy with what was happening right in front of her. Luke had experienced it quite some time over the last years and Lorelai had given him all of her detailed knowledge. Emily's smile was a sign to stop doing what he was doing. He recognized the warning signal and said, "Never mind."

He fell silent and waited for her to take charge of the conversation. She was the one asking for this sit-down in the first place. "It's the first time in years, or decades really, that my daughter and I will be in the same place for a whole week, and I expect it to get ugly at some point. It always does with Lorelai and me. That is why I need you to act as a buffer."

"Me?" Luke asked, pointing to himself. He was surprised by her request.

"You're her husband. If there is one person on this planet who can reason with her it's you, or am I wrong? Is there something wrong with your marriage? Sleeping in separate beds already?"

"No, nothing's wrong," he assured her.

"Well, then," she carried on. "I need you to cut in when she's about to go crazy or bring up sensitive subjects. I want this to be as peaceful as possible. While I know that I have to be on my best behavior I know Lorelai is capable of a lot of things but controlling her temper and her snarky comments when she's around me are not her best traits. I suppose that is a mother-daughter thing." Emily pursed her lips for a moment. "But it's Christmas, we should be able to survive these holidays without a major fight, don't you think?"

"I do."

"I'm on good terms with Lorelai. Her occasional emails and her rare calls are enough for me. And I think she doesn't miss me that much either, does she?"

"Well-"

"Please, don't answer." She cut in by raising her hand. "I know she doesn't understand any of this." She pointed to her surroundings. "My decision to move away, to let a whole family live with me, quitting the DAR and working at a whaling museum. I have to admit it's not what I imagined myself doing either, but I'm happy."

A weak smile was on her lips when she presumed, "Well, as happy I as I can be without Richard there. Hartford was Richard through and through; I had to break my ties there. I had to break free, even if it meant leaving my only daughter behind. But I suppose running away is what our family does. Lorelai ran away when it got hard and she found a new life in that town of yours. She found you, she found her happiness. I found my happiness here. It is unexpected, but I can't help it. Being here doesn't drown me like the big house filled with all these memories. It was Richard all over the place. This-"

Again she stretched her arms away from her to point at her surroundings. "-is mine. And only mine. I have years, so many years left, and I'm certain Richard would not want me to stick around and be sad. I will honor him; I will always honor him. He's the love of my life. You only get one of those."

Her gaze met Luke's and she froze. She shook her head and said, "Well, I got a little carried away, I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Luke said. The speech Emily had given was certainly giving him a glimpse of what was going in her head. She was very honest with him, even when it was by accident. "Does Lorelai know?"

"I think so." Emily frowned. "I told her when I moved."

"Alright, then it's fine." He had to make sure Lorelai was aware of her mother's feelings. Luke had learned new things about his mother-in-law, but he had no idea if Lorelai knew about them too.

"You really look out for her," she pointed out.

"Well-" But Luke got interrupted by Emily.

"It's your job now. I ask you to do that. Otherwise-" Emily's voice trailed off. "You make a good husband. Her smile is different when you're around. I've never seen her smile like that. It's refreshing to see. She's happy. A mother can't ask for more. It's never easy to admit that someone you thought was not suitable for your daughter makes her so happy." She sighed. "Kids truly have a mind of their own. You can not do anything about it."

"I-"

"Don't answer," she said to interrupt him yet again. "This is an old lady telling you straightforward you are good for her daughter. And this it's not by shoveling a load of money in your face. I think that makes you less uncomfortable, does it?"

"Way better, go on," Luke encouraged her and listened to the pleasant words Emily had to share with him. These words made a stay at her house easier and were taking away any bad feeling he had had in the beginning. He was on good terms with his mother-in-law.

The good vibe stayed through any disagreement Lorelai and Emily had in the days to Rory's arrival. It took a lot of pressure out of their relationship when Rory finally arrived. She had been busy with setting up her new apartment and life in Queens, but she assured her mother and grandmother she would be with them for Christmas. They needed Rory to be there since she had always been their personal buffer.

However, Rory was not solely a buffer this Christmas around. She also added to the drama, which was meant to take place on a day like Christmas.

When Lorelai bumped her elbow into Luke's ribs when he was about to mention the abortion Rory had had in November, he knew something was not right. He approached Lorelai in the evening about it.

"Has Rory told Emily about the pregnancy?" He asked.

"Of course not," Lorelai replied.

"Isn't that a problem?" Luke frowned. Keeping big things like this from Emily seemed like a possibility for a blowout to happen easily. Emily had complained about being left out of their lives often enough. That was why Luke did not understand why Lorelai and Rory kept that from her on purpose. It was meant to lead to a fallout.

"It's not my news to tell. Besides, there's no baby anymore," Lorelai reminded him; her eyes turning immediately sad.

"Right," Luke said, not adding any more. He did not want to go further into it when Lorelai was apparently still struggling with Rory's decision. Besides, it was not his news to tell, but news usually made their way out somehow.

There was a blow-out, a big one among the three women. Fighting was part of their DNA, part of their relationship. There had always been fights. However, where fights were there were also reconciliations.

Before they could make up, Luke had to comfort Lorelai, embracing her tightly, pressing her to his chest. Her head was rested in the crook of his neck, against which she whispered, "At least she didn't get angry with you."

It made Luke smile. He untangled his hand from her hair and drew her closer so he could place a kiss on her head full of curls. He granted her a few more moments of comfort before he pushed her to make up with her mother.

They made up and the last two days were again pleasant enough, still a little strained, but being apart and living their separate lives would all three of them, Lorelai, Rory, and Emily do good.

As a goodbye, Luke hugged his mother-in-law briefly, giving his thanks for the week. She shot him a smile and it wasn't the thin polite line she usually used on him, but a real one.

While he was in a disagreement with Berta again about who would load the luggage in his truck, he caught a glimpse of Lorelai embracing her mother longer than usual. Emily's lips stretched into a smile again, assuming that she must be enjoying this new sort of connection with her only daughter. Emily's lips moved, and Luke figured the two of them must be talking to one another.

Once in the car, Lorelai was awfully quiet, she didn't play with the radio or insisted upon listening to "Highway to Hell." She was not chattier when they were on the ferry, where they met Rory again. When Lorelai didn't engage her daughter in a conversation but moved outside on the boat, Luke let her go for a minute. Seeing her leaning on the railing all by herself was so untypical of Lorelai.

"I'll go check on her," he told Rory, who nodded to his suggestion. She was playing with the bracelet Luke and Lorelai had given her for Christmas.

"It wasn't hell," Luke stated when he approached Lorelai at the railing, looking back at the island, on which Emily decided to spend her time. The further it was in the distance, the better Luke felt, taking deep breaths. He thought the week with his mother-in-law would turn into some kind of disaster, and even though some encounters were not too pleasant, it was fine overall.

He averted his gaze to Lorelai when she didn't answer him. Whenever Lorelai remained quiet, it meant something was up with her. He caught her still staring at the island, gripping the railing tightly in her hands; her knuckles turning white.

"Hey," he said, reaching out to brush a hand over her upper arm. It prompted her to jerk her head in his direction. "Everything okay?" he asked.

She nodded, still looking at the island. For a few seconds, Luke watched her take one breath after the other and as was about to say something else, when Lorelai whispered against the wind blowing onboard, "She's happy there."

As soon as the words were spoken, she averted her gaze, turning around so she could go inside of the ferry, where Rory waited too.

Whatever had bothered her didn't bother her after that. She was chatty with Rory, a little emotional when they had to say their goodbyes to her. "We'll see you soon, kid."

"In the new year," Rory agreed, letting go of Lorelai's embrace, turning to Luke to give him his hug.

The few days with Rory were not enough, but at least one of their daughters could spend the holidays with them. He only checked in with April over the phone on Christmas Day. Their next family gathering was still weeks away, so with a heavy heart, they bid their goodbyes. Their daughters were only a phone call away, but it seemed so far at times and didn't compare to the real deal.

Luke was glad to notice that Lorelai was chatty and bubbly all the way home, acting completely normal. The new year could come without any obstacle in their way.

New Year's Eve was the only day of the year when Luke would stay up until midnight. Most of the time, he was sound asleep by 10 pm, the latest. Usually, he would fall asleep on the couch by 8:30 pm, napping there till Lorelai would shake him awake when whatever movie she decided to watch was over.

Taking a nap was also inevitable when they wanted to attend the little gathering at Miss Patty's dance studio for New Year's Eve. It didn't take much persuasion for Luke to lay down. Seeing her husband all comfy in their bed right in the afternoon made Lorelai join him easily. The fluffy blankets were an invitation and with the blinds down, the darkness made Lorelai believe it was actually night time and not just 2 in the afternoon.

Getting up a couple of hours later was not so fun anymore, for Luke at least, who could use the rest after the eventful week in Nantucket. The week at his mother-in-law's was supposed to be a holiday, but it had felt more like a duty. He needed a break from his break.

Lorelai's sweet words and promises for the night let him decide to get up again, even though pulling her back to bed was tempting. He groaned and mumbled words of disagreement as he got ready, while Lorelai swirled around him, applying makeup, dressing up, adding jewelry, doing her hair, and every now and then brushing her hand over his shoulder or arm or whatever part of him was nearest. It was like she did that to hold onto him when she ran from one corner of the room to the other, seeking some kind of support, which he was happy to provide.

Or maybe it was to start something, something fun she had promised him when he would come to the party, something nice, something they could only enjoy when they were in private. And he was looking forward to finding out what she meant with that.

As soon as they left the house, her hand slipped into his and she flashed him a smile, adjusting her handbag on her shoulder, making their way to Miss Patty's, to a get-together Luke was not so keen on. He knew he would have to listen to some crazy thoughts Kirk would utter, he knew Babette would ambush him with another crazy story, while Miss Patty would then try not so subtly to grope his butt.

Lorelai, however, was always there to save him, either by pulling him away, by changing the subject or by putting a protective arm around him. She made it easy for him to socialize with the crazy inhabitants he knew all his life but never really adjusted to. Lorelai handed him a glass of wine, gesturing him to drink up and the alcohol in his system helped him to relax, maybe even enjoy this gathering and the talks a little. But whenever Lorelai slipped out of his grasp, he felt lost and out of place. He was always drawn back to her, always looking out for her, searching her bright blue eyes.

He smiled when she came to his side again. His smile grew even wider when she leaned closer so she could whisper in his ear, "Let's get out of here. I wanna be alone when the clock strikes 12."

Luke did not reject that idea, not at all. It was easy for him to bid their farewells to the others, joking with them how they would not see each other for a whole year. One or two hugs were not inevitable, Babette drawing him in, wishing her favorite neighbor all the best for the New Year and he returned those wishes with ease.

Again, Lorelai's hand slipped into his on their way home. While he drew in the cold winter air, his grip on her hand tightened, Lorelai bumped her shoulder into his and he averted his gaze from the lights all around town.

"Why did we leave the party?" he asked. Usually, they would stick around way longer at those kinds of parties than Luke liked. Today, they were the first ones to leave.

"2017 will be the first year will be married from the start to the end. I thought we should be alone for this," she said, not taking her gaze from him.

Luke didn't answer with words, but his smile widened, he loosened his grip on her hand, letting go of it completely, so he could wrap that arm around her shoulders. Her arm slipped around his middle and they walked hip to hip back home, being in sync.

Once back and after some taking care of Paul Anka, they settled in front of the TV, watching as the ball dropped at Times Square; thousands of people stood outside in New York City and welcomed the New Year.

Lorelai and Luke didn't wish each other a "Happy New Year" or exclaimed to greet the new year. Instead, they kissed right as the clock struck midnight. At first, the brushing of the lips was soft and tender, but when Lorelai angled her head to the side and brought her hand to his cheek something shifted between them. They forgot about their surroundings, about the TV still being on and all the people cheering the new year. All that mattered in the first seconds of the new year was the other person, the lips molding into one another, and the arms suddenly tangling around the other's body. Their moans were muffled by the lips still pressed to each other's mouths.

When they parted for air, catching their breaths, they rested their foreheads together. Hands were roaming, Luke's hand over her upper arms, while Lorelai's rested on his neck and chest. She also brushed her nose against his, still panting a little, "We never shared a first year's kiss like that," she softly said.

"No," Luke said, exhaling and then pressing a peck to her lips.

"It felt more-" Lorelai sighed. "-intimate, I guess."

"Yeah?" Luke opened his eyes and watched as Lorelai pushed herself a little away from him, so he could finally meet her gaze for the first time this year. He got never tired of watching those blue eyes.

"I think it's because we're married now," she admitted and a smile formed on her lips. It grew wider and wider until she wrapped her arms around his neck. Her head came to rest on Luke's shoulder and she hummed happily.

"Hey Luke?" she said after a minute of silence, a minute of being in the moment.

"Yes?" He smoothed a hand over back, her lower back, close to the hem of her shirt.

"We should call our daughters," she mumbled against his neck, nuzzling the skin there.

"Can't you just send a text?" He asked. The network was overloaded at a day like New Year's anyway, there was no use in trying to call them now when they were certainly celebrating themselves somewhere.

She giggled at his comment, probably thinking of something else, another reason why texting was his preferred choice. It was quicker. The faster they had their duties done, the faster they could have the fun, which they had already started in the first place, sometime in the previous year.

The new year presumed not too eventful, engaging them both back in their businesses, keeping things probably just as busy as before the holidays. The holidays really seemed long ago, but remained with a pound or two more to their bones.

"I had too much food during the holidays. Nothing fits me anymore," Lorelai moaned. She was in the bathroom getting ready, while Luke got dressed in the bedroom. It was one of those days when Lorelai had to leave early for the inn and they could actually wake up at the same time.

Lorelai got out of the bathroom wearing a pencil skirt and a blouse, she turned her backside to Luke, who smirked at the sight and she asked him, "Does it look obvious?"

"What?" He had no clue what she was referring to.

"I'm wearing one of those body-shaping underpants and I want to know if it's obvious."

Now that Lorelai pointed that out, he could actually see the lines from the underpants. He frowned. "You don't need that. Your butt looks good, trust me. Heck, you've got the best one in town."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and then said, "Right back at ya. We've been announced Mr. and Mrs. Best Butt Of Stars Hollow."

"Yeah," he mumbled when she went to the bathroom again. He shook his head over the insecurities she was experiencing. To him, she was perfect.

He went downstairs to start breakfast, preparing the coffee, which would surely lift Lorelai's mood. He, too, decided to make some oatmeal with bananas for her instead of her usual stack of pancakes. If she wanted to lose a pound or two, she should eat healthier.

"What's that?" she grimaced when she saw the bowl of oatmeal on the table.

"A way to maintain the title of Mrs. Best Butt Of Town," he said, patting her butt to make his point.

"Seriously, Luke, where are my pancakes?" She asked.

"There aren't any." He stretched his arms from him. There were no dirty pans or bowls. Just two bowls of oatmeal and spoons sitting on the table.

"Luke!"

"You shouldn't have complained." He shrugged.

"You shouldn't have listened to my complaining. It's what I do," she argued.

"Being dramatic, I know. And trying to solve your problems, that's what I do."

Again, Lorelai rolled her eyes and sat down. Luke filled a cup with coffee for her and then sat down at the table as well. He smirked when he saw Lorelai looking at the bowl with wary. Eventually, she took a spoonful of it. Her face didn't grimace as she swallowed it, taking another spoon. Only one eyebrow arched up and Luke thought to her, it was a surprise that she liked what she ate.

At some point, after Lorelai's wary face had washed away, she said, "We have been husband and wife for two months, can you believe it?"

Luke could not. These two months had passed by so quickly.

* * *

 _Hopefully, you liked this chapter and maybe it set some Christmas-spirit free. At this point, I wish you happy holidays if you're celebrating Christmas. Also, happy new year, I will see you with a new chapter in 2018, not sure yet when exactly, but hopefully soon. This chapter wore me a little out, even though it was so much fun to write, especially the Emily and Luke encounter. If you feel like it, let me know what you think and thanks for reading. xxx_


	4. Time

_Hi everybody, who still reads this. I'm sorry it took me so long to update. My personal life is busy and I don't have as much time for fanficiton writing as I used to have. At this point, I have no idea when and how I will write the next chapter, but for now, enjoy this one. And it's a total coincidence that this chapter also deals with the lack of time for the things you love. Well..._

* * *

 **Time**

 _3rd month: 05 January 2017 –05 February 2017_

The holidays had to come to an end, and while Luke was very happy to get rid of all the Christmas decoration, Lorelai was feeling more sentimental about it. Of course, the decorations would be coming up sometime after Thanksgiving again, but that still seemed far away at this point of the year.

"I will miss that flamingo," Lorelai sighed as she wrapped the newly purchased Santa flamingo in some newspaper, so it wouldn't get cracked once stored in the carton with all the other Christmas ornaments and decorations.

"There's a flamingo hanging in the kitchen," Luke reminded her. "And I think I saw a tray with flamingos somewhere too."

"It's not the same," Lorelai argued back, reaching for one of the many dogs in Santa attire. She liked having the figurines around; their house looked homier with them standing on the shelves. Without them, the rooms looked plain and empty.

"Yes, your flamingo addiction is not the same as your Hello Kitty one," Luke stated, reaching for another old newspaper. "Well at least not yet," he added in a mumble, but Lorelai caught it nevertheless.

"What addiction do you like better?" Lorelai asked. Whatever he chose, she would concentrate on the other addiction, so she could make his Adam's apple bobble even more and make the veins show up on his forehead. She liked pushing his buttons; it was so easy.

"The one having both of these addictions," he replied.

"Safe answer." Lorelai chuckled. He must have known all along her plan she tried hiding behind the question.

"Don't forget the polar bear Santa," Luke said, pointing to a shelf behind her.

Lorelai reached for it, saying, "I bet we'll forget one of the figurines somewhere."

"I fear so," Luke scoffed, placing yet another figurine into the box, which he would store somewhere in the garage. He wouldn't need to get them out until later this year.

Lorelai hoped time wouldn't pass by too quickly. The last two months had come and gone too fast. It had been a crazy haze of one event chasing the other. There had been the wedding, Thanksgiving, and the usual stress of the holidays with Christmas in Nantucket and New Year's Eve in Stars Hollow. There had not been much time for just the two of them. Not one peaceful moment where they could relax and catch their breaths.

The new year didn't grant them much time to relax either; their everyday life and respective businesses sucked them in very quickly. While for Lorelai it was the start of the work on the annex, Luke's craziness was his ongoing rivalry with Caesar, who had taken over the diner for a week for Christmas. Caesar tended to go overboard and mix everything up a little. This time around, Caesar held onto his new routines, claiming they were better and much better received than the way Luke had run his diner for the last years.

"Still no luck persuading him of taking those dishes off the menu?" Lorelai asked, sitting at the counter at the diner sometime during the week. She managed to squeeze in a quick break at her husband's diner. They wouldn't see each other in the evening because there would be talks with the constructor for the annex. Tom was still busy on another project nearby, which was in a critical stage as he had told her. Only a meeting in the evening after his work at the other site was possible.

"Whenever I put a new special on the chalkboard in the evening, he replaces it the next day. It's been a back and forth for days; I gave up now," Luke said, his shoulders falling limp. "I don't have a clue how he does it though. How does he reach up there?"

Lorelai' eyes twitched to the board over the door to the kitchen, where Luke had pointed, and then said, bringing a hand to her chest, "Oh, hon, there's something called a ladder, where you can climb up to reach something high."

"Thanks for the info," he scoffed, pressing his hands on the edge of the counter.

"I'm always happy to help." She put her hand in Luke's direction, not quite reaching over the counter so she could brush hers over his hands.

Luke rolled his eyes, swaying back and forth in his stand. He added then, lowering his voice so no one but Lorelai would catch his words, "The scrambled eggs on peanut butter toast with a side of bacon are not that bad, right?"

"Not bad bad," she assured him. The combination sounded wild, but it seemed to work for some of the customers, who even followed Caesar's suggestion and added some jelly on the toast too. The lines, which were forming on Luke's forehead signaled Lorelai she had to soothe his nerves nevertheless, "But I like your cooking better."

"What do you want?"

"I don't want anything. I'm just being nice to my husband." She tilted her head to the side, shaking her hair into place, which was the lighter version of the effective hair flip. It seemed to work on him, suddenly Luke seemed a little flustered.

"Huh." He arched an eyebrow.

"Coffee to go?" She smiled at him.

"Coming right up." He smacked a hand on the counter and turned around to get the coffee for her. Seeing Luke's backside, even with the baggy flannel shirts he was wearing, was a treat Lorelai could not let a pass-on. She leaned over the counter a little, getting a proper peek, but too soon Luke turned over again, handing her a big cup of coffee.

"Thanks," she said, took the cup and reached for her phone, so she could have a look at the time. "Okay, break's over. Gotta go."

"See you sometime tomorrow?" Luke asked, aware of the fact she would be coming home late and by the time, he would already be asleep.

"I might come here for breakfast. Maybe try out Caesar's special pancakes," she teased.

"Get out of here," he hissed, but he leaned over the counter regardless, so she could peck his lips. She was surprised when she felt him smooth his lips on hers with more eagerness than they would usually do in public. She didn't protest; giving into the sweet kiss. After putting on her pink winter coat, she left the diner; a smile was still on her lips when she made her way to the inn, which wouldn't let her get away the rest of the day.

The annex work was consuming her. It was a big project after all and the schedule a tight fit. Work should be finished by the fall, at latest, preferably earlier. Even though it was exhausting Lorelai already, she liked having another big project in her life. She didn't have one of those in years and the thrill was good. It was progress; it was not standing still like she had felt months ago. She was moving, forward, in the future.

Moving forward also cut her time short with Luke or anything fun lately. She had forgotten how stressful things could get when you planned something as big as an annex. Construction had not started yet, but planning and budgeting used up a lot of her time. Usually, she came home late, leaving the housework almost completely to Luke. He didn't mind much, not that she knew of.

When she could come home earlier one evening, she met Luke with Paul Anka outside the front door. She greeted them, making her way up the stairs.

"I was about to walk Paul Anka," Luke said when he met Lorelai at the front door. "We'll have dinner after I get back."

"Okay, yeah," she said, offering a smile, which was also a way of giving thanks to him for his support. Unconditional support of her partner in life.

"See you in a bit," he told her, brushing a hand over her shoulder as he passed her, getting down the stairs.

Lorelai turned her head, watching as he gathered Paul Anka in his arms so he didn't need to use the front porch's stairs, which sometimes still spooked him. Luke really knew how to take care of the dog he never admitted was theirs.

"Hey!" She exclaimed, which prompted Luke to jerk his head over the shoulder.

"I'll come with you," Lorelai said.

"You don't have to. I've got this covered," Luke argued, jerking his head to the house.

"I want to," Lorelai insisted.

"Lorelai," Luke sighed.

"You know how much I like walks through the snow. And I haven't seen my two boys properly in days," she said, dropping her bag into the house and then closing the door behind her.

"No phone?"

"In my pocket." She patted her pink coat and then tightened the scarf around her neck. The cold was creeping up on her. It was also the cold, which prompted her to walk closer to Luke, entwining her arm with his, pressing it to her chest.

"Can you remember when we took the sleigh ride through town?" Lorelai suddenly asked as they walked through the snow-covered town. Some of the Christmas lights were still out, and the town still looked somehow like a miracle.

"Like it was yesterday," Luke said, holding on the Paul Anka's leash. The dog led the way, still a little wary of the snow even though he had known it for so many years now.

"You know you should have kissed me then," Lorelai announced. There was deep frown on Luke's face after Lorelai had said that, so she added as a reminder, "What? It was part of our early romance."

"When exactly with talks about Jess should I have kissed you?" Luke asked.

"Well before that, obviously," she shot back.

Luke just smirked at her, and Lorelai pressed his arm tighter against her chest, her other hand slipping into the hand, whose arm she was holding captive.

"The town still looks magical with the lights, don't you think?" Lorelai said, laying her head on his shoulder as they walked, taking in the surroundings.

"Still nothing magical about the plumbing supply store," Luke scoffed.

"You remember," Lorelai squealed, lifting her head up in surprise.

"Told you I remember it like it was yesterday." Luke arched an eyebrow.

"Softie," she half-sighed, half-chuckled.

"Don't tell anyone. Worse enough that you know about this," Luke requested, and she granted him that. She liked to know something about him that no one else knew. It was a precious little detail that in the end didn't matter much.

This side was almost as cute as the side he was showing when he attempted to stay up late. Not just once she found him asleep on the couch. He attempted to stay awake and wait for her to come home. It had happened more often now that she worked long hours at the inn.

"You have early deliveries tomorrow, right?" Lorelai asked after she had gotten rid of the dirty dishes an evening a couple of days later. Luke had insisted to stay up with her, so they could spend some time together while she had dinner in front of the TV.

"Yeah," Luke sighed, sinking further into the couch's cushions. He was already wearing his night clothes, a pair of sweatpants and the usual green t-shirt. His eyes were narrow, and Lorelai knew he would be falling asleep any minute.

"Let's get you to bed," Lorelai said, poking a finger in his stomach to wake him from his almost-slumber.

"Huh?" Luke yawned.

"Come on." Lorelai took his hand in hers, after turning off the TV. She tugged at his hand, trying to make him stand up.

"It's alright, I can walk by myself," he mumbled.

"Of course. I would never be able to carry you. Maybe when your life depended on it, but let's not give that a try," she said, still pulling on his arm.

"Lorelai," he moaned.

"Come, a cozy bed is waiting for us upstairs," she told him.

"You don't have to come with me," he argued.

"Are you sure you can go up the stairs by yourself? I'm not convinced. Come, I don't mind." Again she tugged on his hand and this time he stood up, his footing a little unsound. She supported him as they made their way upstairs.

Lorelai had long gotten used to going to bed early, she could use the extra sleep with all the inn work lately. Also, she didn't like going to sleep without him. She had learned that lesson a long time ago. There was no good in spending a night apart from him, even if it meant going to bed like 72-year-old women. In a couple of years, they would be the old married couple who would go to bed at 9:30 on a regular basis.

As she looked at him, finally all cozy in the bed, she sighed. He was a great catch. He tried his best to keep up with her. He even tried to stay up longer so they could spend a little time together. She ruffled through his hair, and he stirred under her touch like a child.

Like a mother, she leaned down to kiss his forehead, again going with her fingers through his hair. "I love you," she whispered, even though she knew he would not respond anymore. He was not really awake anymore.

With them, their expression of love was never through words. His attempt at staying up was his way of telling her he loved her. Taking him to bed early was her way of showing him her love. Actions spoke louder than words; it was the romantic way to do it.

The next morning, she stopped by for breakfast at the diner and was served pancakes. Not ordinary pancakes, but special ones, which had a smiley-face drawn on them with maple syrup. It looked ridiculous and something a child would appreciate. That's why she loved it so much.

"Did Caesar do this?" Lorelai asked Luke as he passed by the counter.

"I made them. Can't you taste the difference?" He asked back.

"You?" Lorelai's gaze darted back and forth between the pancakes and her husband.

"Yeah," he confirmed.

"Why?" She frowned. Luke making her smiley-face pancakes didn't make any sense to her. It wasn't a Luke thing, not the slightest bit, even though he had made her a Santa burger before, but that was a long time ago.

"Can't a man just make some smiley-faced pancakes?"

"A man? Yes, of course. You on the other hand? Not so much," she said. "So, spill it, Mister-I-put-smiley-faces-on-pancakes-now."

"I just thought I'd be nice to you." Luke shook his head in disbelief. "Not gonna happen anytime soon again, don't worry."

"No, no, no," Lorelai said in an attempt to stop him from throwing that idea or similar ones overboard. "I like them. A lot. I wanted to thank Caesar because sometimes he sees I need some cheering up." She gasped, bringing a hand to her chest. "Do I look like I need cheering up? I'm actually very well. This is a satisfied face expression, just so you can take notes for your Lorelai cheat book." She gestured to her face.

"I don't have a Lorelai cheat book."

"You're sure? Might be useful."

"Like you have a Luke cheat book."

"No need for that. I know you inside and outside. You are no mystery to me," she said, tilting her head. Her hair stayed in place since she had pulled it back in a ponytail today.

"You wish," he chuckled.

"What? Tell me one thing I don't know about you," she challenged him, seeking eye-contact with him.

For a few seconds, they stared at each other, when suddenly one corner of Luke's mouth twitched. He was smirking at her, when he said, "You have no idea why I made you those pancakes."

That left Lorelai stunned. He had a point there and he knew that because he walked back serving his customers. Kirk had just entered the diner.

Lorelai's gaze followed him for a moment, but then she averted it to the smiling pancakes on her plate. She decided to eat them and not dwell on the reason why he had made them. Maybe, she would find out sometime later. For now, she concentrated on the taste.

Later turned out to be much sooner as she had anticipated. As she bid her goodbye, Luke told her, "For the record, I made you those pancakes because you went to bed early with me."

"It's no big deal." Lorelai waved it off like Luke would do so often.

"It is," he insisted. "And did they make you smile?"

"Yes, the purpose was fulfilled." She nodded, yet again she got his love message without the need to hear the 3 words aloud.

"Good. Now get out of here, before Kirk can wrap you up in his wedding business," he told her, pushing her to the door.

"Did he suck you in again?" Lorelai asked, closing her coat and putting on her hat.

"I can't escape him. I'm trapped here," he hissed.

"Even if you're not here, he knows where you live," Lorelai reminded him, which made him exhale deeply. "Stay strong," she said, patting his shoulder and then leaving for the day.

It turned out to be one hell of a day, a hell of a rest of the week actually. She had needed the smiley-faced pancakes all along. Some guests wanted too many extras for her taste, the annex planning came to a critical point and Michel was testing her temper more than usual. He was having panic attacks about the girl, which he and his husband would adopt soon.

Lorelai came back home late twice in a row, with Luke being sound asleep. She left him notes in the kitchen, telling him about her schedule and checking in with him via some short phone calls, but it didn't compare to the real deal, to a conversation in person.

She was sitting in her office one evening over another draft for the rebuilding schedule when there was a knock on her door. Her head jerked up and she saw Luke standing there holding up a paper bag.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I thought you could use a break. And you have to have dinner, so I brought you a cheeseburger. You haven't had one in days and I know you live on them so. _.._ " He shrugged, closing the door behind him.

"Thanks." She smiled at him. "But I'm totally wrapped up in this and if Michel sees you here, he'll throw a fit."

"I'm just dropping this off," Luke told her, nodding and putting the paper bag on her desk. The room was filled with the smell of fries and the meaty scent of the burger. It smelled like heaven to Lorelai.

"I've been working my perfectly fine butt off this week, so I can have a free weekend. You've got plans?" She asked, getting off her chair and walked around the desk.

"No, I'm free. I have the breakfast shift on Saturday, but other than that I'm all yours."

"Then it's a date! Saturday afternoon. Me and you," she said. Her index finger pointed at first to her and then she put it on Luke's chest.

"Afternoon?" He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little early for a date?"

"We won't be leaving the house," Lorelai clarified, drawing circles on his chest.

"Huh." Luke watched her and then captured her hand on his chest, squeezing it and pressing it tighter on his chest. She could feel his heartbeat under her palm and before she knew it, he lifted her hand up to his mouth so he could place a featherlight kiss on her fingers, letting them rest on his lips for a second, his soft lips now under her touch. A chill ran down her spine when he started to talk against her fingertips. His was voice was hoarse. Lorelai thought he had never been sexier as he held her gaze and said, "Well, I'll see you then. Enjoy your dinner."

He let go of her hand and left the office. Lorelai watched him go away, biting her lower lip. She couldn't wait for Saturday. Two more days, just Friday in the way. All of Saturday morning would be used to make herself more presentable, shaved and trimmed in all the right places, freshly washed hair, making herself feel special for her special time with her special husband.

Their Saturday afternoon lived up to everything she had imagined it to be. It was good to be finally close to her husband again, who had been nothing but supportive in the last weeks. She showed him just how much she appreciated everything about him, but then there was a loud voice making its way from downstairs, interrupting the lovemaking in their bedroom rudely.

"Hey guys," someone called and Lorelai's face grimaced, turning into shock. Within seconds, she had pushed Luke off her, put on underwear and some jeans, which Luke had not put back to its place in the wardrobe. She snatched a t-shirt from the closet and then threw a flannel in Luke's direction. He was dressing just as quickly as she was.

"Who's that?" He hissed, buttoning up his shirt.

"I have no idea," Lorelai answered, jumping on one foot as she put on her socks.

"I swear-" Luke grumbled, reaching for his jeans.

"I know, babe," she assured him, taking a look in a mirror to check her hair and to wipe away the sweat from her forehead.

"Mom?" The voice called again.

"Rory," Lorelai groaned and left the bedroom, Luke right behind her.

"Hey, guys!" Rory exclaimed when she saw them walking down the stairs. She held something in her hands. "I found this in the foyer. It's not really the time for Christmas decoration?"

"Huh?" Lorelai asked, greeting her daughter with a hug.

"Why is a penguin Santa still out?" Rory asked, putting it on top of a bookcase. She dropped off her jacket in the foyer.

"I told you we'll forget one," Lorelai whispered to Luke in the meantime.

"I mean I would have understood if it was a flamingo, but a penguin? That's not your obsession now, is it? Otherwise, I'll have to return your birthday present."

"You already have a birthday present for me?" Lorelai asked. It was still three months away.

"Not the point," Rory said and then greeted Luke with a hug too.

"What are you doing here?" Luke said as he let go of her.

"No reason, really. I just thought I'd pop over." Rory shrugged. "I didn't interrupt anything?"

"Nothing we can presume any other time," Lorelai said, faking a smile. She hoped they could get to their business back in the evening.

"What were you doing anyway? I heard loud noises. Are you building some new shelves? Is there even space left for some new storage room in this house?" Rory joked, gesturing to the upstairs and then walking to the kitchen.

"Yeah, hon, where you building shelves with your strong-strong hands?" Lorelai asked just above a whisper, so Rory wouldn't catch it. She smirked at him, which made Luke frown.

"Stop it," he hissed, raising a warning finger at her. Luke was still flustered, just moments ago they were having some intense time, and now they had to keep their hands to themselves. "For all the stuff your mother brings along won't ever be enough shelves in this house," Luke announced to Rory and started the coffee machine in the kitchen.

"I'll need to take a look at it later," Rory said.

"No need. It's a work in progress," Luke explained quickly.

"I don't mind." Rory smiled at Luke, whose face was somewhat frozen in shock.

Lorelai enjoyed watching him all flustered, but then interjected, "There are no new shelves, kid."

"But-? The noise?" Rory frowned, and then realization must have hit her when she locked eyes with her mother. "Were you-?" She turned her head to Luke, who was turning his back to her, suddenly very interested in watching the coffee going through the filter. "Oh my god. You were- Oh, let's not talk about this."

"Please," Luke insisted and Lorelai saved them from the embarrassment and changed topics.

It turned out to be a pleasant afternoon with Rory there, even though she had crossed their plans to get some adult fun. Luke and Lorelai had not seen Rory in person since Christmas.

"What are you doing home?" Lorelai asked when she got a moment alone with her daughter. "Not that I mind, but I thought you were good?"

"I am," Rory assured her. "Well as good as I can with the inauguration, but the women's march helped a lot. Paris took me."

"But?" Lorelai pressed.

"No buts." Rory shook her head. "I just think I need to write again. This whole situation forces me to write."

"Isn't that good?"

"I thought my journalism career was over," Rory admitted, looking at her hands in her lap. They were sitting at the kitchen table, where just a few months ago, Rory had presented the first chapters of the book to Lorelai. Rory was still writing it, but her focus had shifted.

"Plans change," Lorelai reminded.

"They do," Rory sighed, nodding.

Rory was staying for dinner too, Luke had insisted upon it. Lorelai couldn't blame her for taking him up on that offer. Luke's cooking was something. They chatted some more, exchanging news and having fun. They had not had that kind of family gathering since Thanksgiving. Christmas was not the same with Emily there.

"And a tip before I go," Rory said, putting on her winter coat. "Watch A Series of Unfortunate Events."

"Really? It doesn't sound like-" Lorelai answered, but Rory cut her off, telling her, "NPH was great in that."

"Again?" Lorelai scowled.

"What can I say? He's always good." Rory shrugged, reaching for her handbag and then for the handle of the door. Lorelai sent her off and watched as the car drove off.

"Is she gone?" Luke asked when Lorelai came back in.

"Yes," she confirmed and walked into the living room. Luke sat on the couch, craning his head over the shoulder. She smiled at him and stretched a hand in his direction. "Let's pick up where we left things off."

Like Rory had taken him up on his offer for dinner, Luke took Lorelai up on hers. All of the family members were happy that way. They got it all, and some of them even more than they asked for.

Sunday was the day of rest, especially with the nightly activities they had engaged in on the previous evening. Their energy was mostly used up. Luke's more than Lorelai's. The coffee and some sugar-based snack boosted some energy into her, bringing a stack of picture frames to Luke, who was again sitting comfortably on the couch.

"What's that?" He asked.

"I want to decide which frame is the most suitable for our wedding picture," Lorelai announced, holding up one with a silver frame.

Luke shook his head. "Too small. I want it bigger."

"Dirty!" Lorelai gasped.

He rolled his eyes in response, reaching for the other frames. They were deciding on a golden frame, bigger but not too big, so it would still blend in nicely with the other pictures, which were standing somewhere in the living room.

Eventually, they ended up watching TV, however, A Series of Unfortunate Events didn't catch their attention this afternoon. The TV ended up mute sometime when Lorelai reached for a magazine.

Luke was sitting upright on the couch, an issue of the New Yorker in his hands, while Lorelai was lying on the couch with her head on Luke's lap. She was still reading the magazine. Luke was stroking her hair, while Paul Anka's was keeping her feet warm.

"This is nice," Lorelai sighed as she turned a page.

"No better way to spend a Sunday," Luke agreed.

"We haven't done that in a while."

"Wouldn't mind it being more often."

"I'll make room for you if you make room for me in your schedule," Lorelai offered and yet again Luke took her up on her offer.

"Deal," he said, smiling down at her.

When they were taking a reading pause and Luke was having a cup of tea, while Lorelai had a cup of coffee, she took advantage of the intimacy of the moment to talk about something, which had occupied her mind ever since Christmas.

"I can't believe you shared a cup of tea in the morning with my mother more than once," she said, adjusting in her seat.

"What was I supposed to do?" Luke shot back.

"My heart skipped a beat when I found the two of you sitting in the living room. It was a greater shock than any Stranger Things episode."

"We could tell."

"You two are in sync now." She folded her legs under her after she had put her cup on the table in front of her.

"Not in sync, but we came to an understanding."

"My mother is smitten with you, I tell you. Especially with your cooking skills. She asked me if I ever tried your lasagna." She had a piece of the lasagna so often now and she was still surprised how tasty it was.

"I promised I would make some when we're there for the summer."

"It's good, isn't it?"

"What?" Luke put his cup back on the table.

"That you get along with her." Their time in Nantucket had not been all bad, besides their fall-out about Rory, but that was bound to happen. Other than that it was nice.

"She's still not my favorite person. Still making me very uncomfortable."

"That won't ever change," Lorelai chuckled and then dropped her head again to his lap, reaching for yet another magazine, skimming through it, reading through the articles, looking at the pictures, laughing at the celebrity gossip. She was drawn in completely until she hit the horoscope page. She gasped.

"Hey, hon?"

"Yeah?" Luke averted his gaze from the New Yorker he had resumed reading.

"It's three months since we said 'I do'," she told him.

"Any complaints?" He asked, smiling down at her again.

"Other than the time thing, none." Time had really been an issue. They had not much time for cozy afternoons like this. "What about you?"

He nodded and then eventually added, "Your head's getting a little heavy."

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed this update, some more or less Lorelai and Luke married fluff, with a lot of everyday life thrown in: walking Paul Anka, kisses over the counter, and going to bed early. Have a nice weekend and I hope to see you all sooner rather than later. xxx_


End file.
